"DRUNKOREXIA": Binge drinking--calorie purging combo harms students, Mizzou researcher says

COLUMBIA, 11/9/11 (Op-Ed) -- As if parents with college-age kids don't have enough to worry about, add a condition called "drunkorexia," claims University of Missouri assistant professor of social work and public health Victoria Osborne.

A combination of anorexia and all-night benders, drunkorexia has college students under eating and over drinking -- restricting food calories in order to binge on booze. Common among all U.S. college students, roughly three times as many women as men suffer from the disorder.

"Apart from each other, depriving the brain of adequate nutrition and consuming large amounts of alcohol can be dangerous," Osborne (left) said. "Together, they can cause short- and long-term cognitive problems including difficulty concentrating, studying and making decisions."

Drunkorexics are also at greater risk for violence, risky sex, substance abuse and alcohol poisoning, explained Osborne, who presented her findings at the American Psychopathological Association and the Research Society on Alcoholism.